It is known practice to use panels made of mineral or organic glass in order to form shelves, covers, doors of refrigerated compartments, or display units, notably for grocery stores. In these applications, the glass panel is conventionally associated with a plastic frame, which makes it possible to limit the risk of injury on the sharp edges of the panel. The plastic frame may also comprise portions for aesthetic and/or functional purposes, such as portions for receiving seals or portions for mounting on a structure. In the case of a refrigerator shelf, the frame may for example form a handle for handling the shelf at its front side, and portions for mounting the shelf in the chassis of a refrigerator at its lateral and rear sides.
There are various methods for assembling a plastic frame to a glass panel. According to a method called encapsulation, the plastic of the frame is injected onto the periphery of the panel placed in a mould so that the panel is held in a pincer grip by the plastic, which surrounds it on its edge and on each of its upper and lower faces. Such a method however requires a specific installation for each design of assembly produced, which induces a high manufacturing cost.
In other known methods, the plastic frame is formed independently of the panel and the frame is assembled with the panel by bonding or clipping the frame around the panel. In particular, U.S. Pat. No. 6,679,573 describes a shelf for a refrigerator of which the glass panel and the plastic frame are assembled by clip fastening. Accordingly, the frame comprises elastically deformable tabs for retaining the panel, which deflect upon insertion of the panel into the frame, then return to their initial rest position in such a way as to retain the panel. With such a method of assembly by clip fastening, there is however a risk that the panel will separate from the frame of the shelf when a considerable load is applied to the shelf in the position of use, the tabs of the frame then being likely to deform and to release the panel.
According to yet another known method, the frame is assembled to the panel by shrinking the plastic of the frame around the panel. In the case of a shelf intended to support a load, the assembly between the frame and the panel of the shelf may be reinforced by means of locking members, which are fitted to the frame so as to protrude towards the inside of the frame facing the face of the panel which is its lower face in the position of use of the shelf. However, these additional locking members are likely to be lost or forgotten on the assembly line of the shelf. Moreover, these locking members make the management of stocks of the parts to be supplied to the assembly line more complex.
It is these drawbacks that the invention more particularly seeks to remedy by proposing a frame that is capable of being attached to the periphery of a panel in a simple and easy manner, the assembly obtained between the panel and the frame being reliable and resistant, in particular against a load applied on the panel.